Q. I

Am a 57-year-old male. I have diverticulitis and...

Q. I am a 57-year-old male. I have diverticulitis and colitis. Can you give me some information on these problems? Also, do nerves have anything to do with flare-ups?

A. Both diverticulitis and colitis must be quite a burden. Let me give you a brief overview of these conditions.

Diverticular disease is relatively common in people over 60. It occurs when weakened areas in the wall of the large intestine balloon out and form marble-sized pockets called diverticula. In most cases the diverticula don't cause symptoms. That form of the disease is called diverticulosis.

Definite problems are seen with the more severe form, diverticulitis, however. When undigested or stool material gets caught in the diverticular pockets, inflammation and infection may develop, and symptoms may include abdominal pain, constipation with infrequent diarrhea, nausea and vomiting, and fever and chills.

If the inflammation is severe enough, holes can develop in the bowel wall, which could result in peritonitis, an infection that can spread throughout your abdomen and become very serious.

You can help control this disorder by a diet rich in fiber and use of stool softeners and bulking agents like psyllium and methylcellulose. Medical treatment would include antibiotics to control infection. In severe cases, surgical removal of the affected bowel area may be the best alternative.

Colitis is, of course, a generic term for any inflammation of the colon. The causes of colitis are many. The most common are antibiotic-associated, infection by a parasite, or inflammatory bowel disease, which includes the more serious ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease.

In general, symptoms of the various forms of colitis include diarrhea (sometimes bloody) and cramping abdominal pain, the severity depending on the type of colitis. Medical treatment is focused on relief of symptoms like diarrhea, and suppressing the inflammation. The treatment plan seeks to stop the current attack and to prevent recurrence.

You didn't indicate how severe your condition is or what you're doing to control the situation, so I can't go into much more detail. I can respond to your question about a nervous condition contributing to your intestinal problems by saying that, although depression and anxiety play a more direct role in a related disorder, irritable bowel syndrome, your concern may be well-founded, depending on your specific disorder.

I would relay this and all other concerns to your doctor at your next meeting.

Update on fractures: Sticks and stones will break my bones, but names will never hurt me; that child's saying can be important to help kids gain more self-esteem.

But sticks, stones, falls and other things cause more than 6 million fractures every year in the United States. For most of these fractures, healing takes place fairly quickly and without complications. But for almost 1 million fractures, the healing is slowed down or stopped.

Fractures that are slow to heal or don't heal properly often require surgery to pin the bones together. Although the surgery is usually uncomplicated, it can increase pain and expense and delay return to normal activities.

Now there is an easier and painless way to speed up healing without surgery. Healing can be speeded up by as much as 40 percent by applying low-intensity ultrasound to the skin over a fracture site. These ultrasound waves somehow stimulate the body's natural healing process for regeneration of bone tissue. The ultrasound is generated by a small battery-powered device that is used for 20 minutes a day at home.